66 



not roaasurad in tarns such as number of construction projacts, permits issued, 

 or hatchery fish released. Procedures developed in recent years to protect 

 the biological integrity of water resotirees (K^rr et al. 1986, Lyons 1992, 

 Kerans and Karr in revlev) provide easily used and ecological sophisticated 

 approaches to assess resource condition. Biotic integrity assessment can 

 easily be Integrated with watershed- level planning at diverse apatlal scales. 



The principles required to plan protection and restoration prograos are 

 similar across watersheds. But, bacauae hunuin influences and natural 

 conditions vary among watersheds, watershed specific evaluations must' be 

 undertaken to determine the cause of degradation. Then and only then, can 

 plans be developed to correct local problems. General solutions (such as 

 release of hatchery fish or habitat reconstruction) are not appropriate in the 

 absence of careful problem assassment. Past approaches were often ill- 

 conceived because planners proposed solutions as if ecosystem dysfunction 

 could be reversed without broad understanding of those systems. Successful 

 approaches should be based on a broad planning perspective and a planning 

 effort based on evaluation of local ecological, aocial and economic 

 conditions. The management techniques have been available for years but they 

 have not been uaed in an integrative way. 



The window of opportunity to reverse this decades-long trend in 

 declining water resources and salmon populations is closing because of the 

 extant of loss of watershed processes upon which these salmon depend and, 

 thus, the salmon themselves. This decline can only be reversed by substantive 

 change In our actions and In the conceptual framework uaed to define those 

 actions. Immediate short-cerm actions are essential to provide the 

 opportunity for long-term restoration programs. These actions include: 



1. Identification and protection of existing high quality sites, sites 



with healthy biological communities. Recent scientific 

 workshops have concluded that immediate actions must be taken to 

 preserve the few healthy watershed refuges that remain in the 

 region. Those refuges hold most of the spawning and rearing 

 habitat for salmon. Quick action Is needed to identify and 

 protect those areas to safeguard existing salmon runs and 

 provide viable populations that can recolonize additional areas 

 to be restored. 



2. Stabilize roads and other erosive or otherwise unstable areas In and 



near these protected areas 



3. Move to restore nearby degraded reaches, taking advantage of the 



protected refuges as sources of colonists 



These mostly local scale activities must be Integrated with watershed 

 level planning that produces Best Management Systems for regional landscapes. 

 The cost of these efforts will not be high relative to the benefits to 

 society. Environmental benefits Include Improved water resource quality, 

 continued vitality of forest and river systems, protection of soil resources, 

 more conservation minded uses of water, and protection of the aesthetic 

 quallcy of the Northwest environment. 



